Favorite 10 Non-Singles

Also in no particular order:
  1. Road Ode
  2. (A Place to) Hideaway
  3. You
  4. Happy
  5. Ordinary Fool
  6. Sailing on the Tide
  7. At the End of a Song
  8. Honolulu City Lights
  9. A Song for You
  10. Let Me Be the One
 
Again, in no particular order:
1. A Song For You
2. Crescent Noon
3. Desperado
4. You
5. Strength Of A Woman
6. Road Ode
7. B'wana She No Home
8. Baby It's You
9. Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
10. You
 
While my ordering will be mostly chronological, the first three songs are at the top of my list:
(1) Little Altar Boy (apparently a promo-45 exists, though I have never found it !)
(2) He Came Here For Me
(3) I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day

Nowhere Man (unsweetened)
I Can't Make Music
Caught Between Goodbye and I Love You
Trying To Get The Feeling Again ( non-single USA)
Two Sides
Where Do I Go From Here
You're The One

Extremely difficult to choose.
 
Desperado
(I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You
Love Me For What I Am
Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night
You're The One
Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
I'll Never Fall in Love Again
Strength of A Woman
Let Me Be The One
(A Place to) Hideaway

Does "Now" count as a bonus? It was a single in Japan, I think or was it the U.K.? Ugh. Now :D I forgot...:wink:
 
Great thread. Seems to always have some changes, but as of today with no holiday tunes....

1. All of My Life
2. Turn Away
3. Baby It’s You
4. Let Me Be the One
5. One Love
6. A Song for You
7. Road Ode
8. Our Day Will Come
9. I Just Fall in Love Again
10. Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night
 
This one's hard. These are my choices (as of this posting), but these choices may be subject to change, depending on my current mood:
(in alphabetical order)

1. All Of My Life
2. At The End Of A Song
3. Eve
4. Happy
5. (A Place To) Hideaway
6. Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night
7. Now
8. Road Ode
9. This Masquerade
10. Two Lives
 
In no particular order:
1. One Love
2. Love Me For What I Am
3. One More Time
4. Where Do I Go From Here
5. Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night
6. You're The One
7. Strength of a Woman
8. Desperado
9. Ordinary Fool
10. When It's Gone

Alternates:
11. Crescent Noon
12. Another Song
13. Heather
14. A Song For You
15. I Can't Make Music

Actually, because I said "in no particular order," any of these at anytime can be in my top 10.
 
Sometimes I think I live for the lists on this forum. Thanks for this analytical exercise, @Mark-T. So when curating these forum lists, I usually like to corset myself with extraneous rules, so I established two: 1.) no songs from their amazing Christmas catalogue, and 2.) only original studio albums released during Karen’s lifetime could be considered, and each one had to be represented. What can I say? I thrive on parameters. So here’s my list:
  • All Of My Life: Karen’s instrument, the one that eventually surfaced in spades on the Close To You album, was fully present on this song. The world had yet to realize the musical gift they were about to receive...
  • Maybe It’s You: I always thought this one could have been a hit single. I love the high school girl scribbling in her notebook-style lyrics. Sweet, Sweet Song.
  • Let Me Be The One: Everyone agrees this should have been a single and that it would have been a big hit.
  • Bacharach / David Medley: This medley may be the happiest Carpenters moment on record: two young idealists in love with life and enjoying their first wave of success.
  • Road Ode: And then on the very next album, the duo delivered one of the most melancholy (and beautiful) songs in their catalogue. I also love that this road song was written by band members while on tour in Carbondale, Illinois – my home state!
  • This Masquerade: I believe this to be the definitive version of this tune, although I actually love Leon Russell’s original as well. Karen’s voice was never creamier.
  • Happy: I think this one should have been the single after “Only Yesterday” and would have fit perfectly on top 40 radio that autumn, alongside “Jive Talkin’,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Bad Blood,” and “That’s The Way (I Like It).”
  • One More Time: This heartbreaking, lugubrious lyric echoes how I suspect Karen and Richard were feeling at the time as their albums and singles started to land lower on the charts and their health issues started to surface.
  • You’re The One: Okay, so I let the corset out a bit for this song that "lost the coin flip” for inclusion on the Passage album. Easily a top 5 favorite of mine from the duo. While it was sad to not have access to this tune for over a decade after it was recorded, what a treat to finally (and unexpectedly) hear it in the TV movie in 1989 - and then finally on record a few years later. Thanks, Rich!
  • Somebody’s Been Lyin’: The last, delicious, over-the-top (in the best, possible way) multi-vocal harmony song recorded during Karen’s lifetime. “…be wise to go on…my…own…way…myyy…ooown…wa-ayyyy!” Yes, I’ll have more of that, please.
And I just can’t figure out why so many folks love “Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night.” I just don’t get it. I’ll give it another listen this weekend - I must be missing something...
 
Today it would be:

1. A Song For You
2. Road Ode
3. Masquerade
4. Help
5. Happy
6. I Can Dream Can't I?
7. I Can't Make Music
8. B'wana She No Home
9. Desperado
10. Let Me Be The One

Runners up this time:

Love Is Surrender
A Place To Hideaway
 
My two penneth

1.A song for you
2.happy
3.baby it's you
4.I just fall in love again
5.One love
6.Your baby Doesn't love you anymore
7.Maybe it's you
8.All of my life
9.You
10.let me be the one.
 
For Today...in chronological order.
1. Baby It's You
2. Crescent No0n
3. Let Me Be the One
4. A Song for You
5. Road Ode
6. This Masquerade
7. Happy
8. One More Time
9. B'wana She No Home
10. Kiss Me the way you did last night
10.5 Tryin' to get the feeling
 
And I just can’t figure out why so many folks love “Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night.” I just don’t get it. I’ll give it another listen this weekend - I must be missing something...

Listen to it with a good set of headphones and then you might hear it :wink:. Asking Siedah Garrett to guest vocal on the song was a master stroke by Richard. She complements Karen's vocal perfectly.
 
Re: Kiss Me- Karen had me hooked at the opening line. Serenade me by the light of the moon. Sets the stage for one of their most romantic songs ever.

Totally agree, I too was hooked from that first line.

The electric guitar solo and stereo panned drums also make it sparkle. It's almost like a latter-day Goodbye To Love.
 
Terrific thread Mark, I happen to love these non hits or album cuts even more than the top ten hits. Here are most favorite:
I'd say our choices would make a great CD compilation, wouldn't it?

  • You're The One
  • From This Moment On
  • (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye And I Love You
  • B'wana She No Home
  • At The End Of A Song
  • When It's Gone (It's Just Gone)
  • The Rainbow Connection
  • Goofus
  • Making Love In The Afternoon
  • Look To Your Dreams
 
I'll list mine alphabetically...

All Of My Life
Another Song
Crystal Lullaby
Don't Be Afraid
Love Is Surrender
Now
Road Ode
Sandy
This Masquerade
Two Sides
 
1) All Of My Life
2) Let Me Be The One
3) Another Song
4) What's The Use?
5) One More Time
6) Can't Smile Without You
7) B'Wana She No Home
8) Baby, It's You
9) Tryin' To Get The Feeling
10) Sometimes
 
10? ok
Eve
I Can't Make Music
A Song For You
Road Ode
I'm Caught Between Goodbye &
Love Me For What I Am
Boat To Sail
Two Sides
Ordinary Fool
Kiss Me The Way You Did....

always subject to change
 
Fantastic thread, Mark! This is why of all the places I've ever spent time on the Internet, this is the liveliest and most thought-provoking--and all while exhibiting an absolute minimum of the "personality issues" that so often infect online forums. I take that as stemming from our collective love and respect for Karen and Richard and the musical standards they embodied. (And our moderators really are the best--doing that part of their job as inobtrusively as possible while being remaining dynamic thread-starters and incredible founts of knowledge).

And just like Must Hear, I am always fascinated and galvanized by the polls and lists here--both for the collective thought exercises and for the fact that people have kindly let it fall to me to be the guy who counts it all up! A total of 64 songs have thus far been voted for at least once--another testament to the depth of quality in the Carpenters' catalogue.

Here's what we have with 18 lists in place:

10 mentions--Road Ode
9--Let Me Be The One
7--Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night, Happy, Baby It's You, All of My Life, A Song for You
6--You're The One, This Masquerade, Desperado, Bwana She No Home
5--One More Time, Two Sides, (A Place to) Hideaway
----top 14 tracks that would make for a traditional LP called Carpenters "Deep Cut Heaven"----
4--You, Strength of a Woman, Ordinary Fool, (I'm Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You
3--One Love, Maybe It's You, Love Me For What I Am, I Can't Make Music, Crescent Noon, At the End of a Song, Another Song
-----top 25 tracks that could comprise the extended CD version of "Deep Cut Heaven"-----
2--Where Do I Go From Here, When It's Gone, Trying to Get the Feeling, Our Day Will Come, Now, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, I Can Dream Can't I, Help!, Eve, Crystal Lullaby, Boat to Sail
1--Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore, What's The Use?, Two Lives, Turn Away, Someday, Sometimes, Somebody's Been Lyin', Sandy, Sailing on the Tide, Reason to Believe, Rainbow Connection, Nowhere Man, Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Making Love in the Afternoon, Love Is Surrender, Look To Your Dreams, Little Altar Boy, Jambalaya, I Just Fall in Love Again, I Heard the Bells on Xmas Day, I Have You, Honolulu City Lights, He Came Here For Me, Goofus, Don't Be Afraid, Can't Smile Without You, Bacharach/David medley

My personal top 10 picks for this poll are underlined in the above list...which leads to some analysis around "consensus" selections. The average number of songs from each Top 10 list that made the first cut--the top 14 songs for the "LP" version--was just under 5 (4.89 to be exact). Top score for this--or highest match to our consensus-- was 9 (Song4uman). Biggest outlier--lowest match to the consensus--was 1 (GaryAlan).

The average number of songs from each Top 10 list that made the second cut--the top 25 songs for the "CD" version--was just over 7 (7.11 to be exact). Song4uman's tenth selection made this second cut, so his entire list made it onto the CD version--10 for 10! GaryAlan and Rick were the biggest outliers here, each placing 4 tracks on the 25-cut list.

I would love to see you guys tackle the issue of producing a track order for these variants--first, the 14-track LP, and then two versions of the 25-track list: first, the CD; second, the four sides of a double-LP set.
 
Fantastic thread, Mark! This is why of all the places I've ever spent time on the Internet, this is the liveliest and most thought-provoking--and all while exhibiting an absolute minimum of the "personality issues" that so often infect online forums. I take that as stemming from our collective love and respect for Karen and Richard and the musical standards they embodied. (And our moderators really are the best--doing that part of their job as inobtrusively as possible while being remaining dynamic thread-starters and incredible founts of knowledge).

And just like Must Hear, I am always fascinated and galvanized by the polls and lists here--both for the collective thought exercises and for the fact that people have kindly let it fall to me to be the guy who counts it all up! A total of 64 songs have thus far been voted for at least once--another testament to the depth of quality in the Carpenters' catalogue.

Here's what we have with 18 lists in place:...

Don, thanks a million for your analysis! As a lover of statistics myself, I appreciate your hard work and presentation!

I also enjoy such exercises, and I am hopeful for more responses to this thread, so that we (you :)) might have a larger population to analyze. I am intrigued, though not entirely surprised, by the multitude of songs listed only once. I have two of those, myself ("Someday" and "I Have You") thus far. As I have mentioned on occasion, it's interesting how some songs can evoke polarizing feelings, even among staunch fans. But we are united by our appreciation and enjoyment of the totality of music produced by Karen and Richard. Bottom line for me: this is fun! :)
 
Someday
All I Can Do
Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
Eve
Love Is Surrender
I Kept on Loving You
Another Song
Let Me Be The One
Road Ode
And When He Smiles
 
1. Don't Be Afraid To Love
2. Love Is Surrender
3. Let Me Be The One
4. A Song For You
5. I Can't Make Music
6. Love Me For What I Am
7. You
8. Two Sides
9. Ordinary Fool
10. You're The One
 
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